


Liminal

by asterisque



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Canon Compliant, Light Angst, M/M, Magical Realism, Mystery, Prologue, Science Fiction, disbandment-ish fic???, niel is a writer, surprise for onge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 18:25:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18371606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asterisque/pseuds/asterisque
Summary: lim·i·nal/ˈlimənl/adjective1.relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process.2.occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.In which Daniel suddenly wakes up to a whole new world a day before their final concert.





	Liminal

**Author's Note:**

> after 1 million years of self-loathing, i finally churned out... something.

Daniel abruptly wakes up in the middle of the night with an intractable lump stuck in his throat. He’s breathing heavily— _ almost heaving _ . It’s as if the world had suddenly pummeled on the very core of his chest and released it in a split second. He coughs and coughs until the matter dissipates and nothing but the gentle whirring of the fan is heard emanating from the nauseating silence.

 

The younger male musters a portion of his strength, rousing himself from the dissonance so that he can clearly see his surroundings. As far as he can remember, the boys—his group, Wanna One—were on their way to the dorms after a long day of rehearsals for their final concert. 

 

Daniel can still vividly remember how emotionally suppressed all of them were, with faux smiles and words of comfort seemingly never-ending to cope up with the emotional burden they were about to face for one last time. 

 

No one had ever expected that eleven of them, eleven different boys with entirely contrasting personalities, would actually feel like a real family and their dorm would turn out to be a real home for six hundred days or so. 

 

It was easy to say that love had bounded them together in the most mysterious of ways, but as one would know, life is merciless. The members had to part ways after their final show, only for Wanna One to be preserved as a beautiful memory in each and everyone who had diligently supported them all throughout their journey. Daniel, in all honesty, didn’t want to let go, especially when it meant that he can never perform alongside Seongwoo again. 

 

When it meant that he can never be alongside Seongwoo again.

 

The wispy blur clouding Daniel’s fluttered eyelids suddenly shifts into blinding slithers of light, much that of fluorescent and brightly-lit diodes. And the silence gradually altering to a cacophony of keyboards clacking and people mumbling. With a slight hesitation, Daniel opens his eyes forcefully, seeing himself in an office cubicle with the same familiar faces surrounding him.

 

Daniel is sure he’s awake, he really is. 

 

“Hey, sleepyhead,” A man who resembles much like Jisung (except that this person is wearing a corporate attire) ruffles his hair with a large friendly grin plastered on his face. “If you were sleepy, you could’ve gone to the office infirmary to take a nap. You’re lucky that I’m a very nice boss.”

 

“Oh,” says Daniel with a befuddled expression. He doesn’t have an ounce of an idea as to what is exactly happening before his eyes, but it seems to be rather an…  _ odd place _ . “Where am I? Aren’t we supposed to be heading home after the rehearsals?”

 

Jisung looks at him quite amused. “Rehearsals for what? We’re in the office, silly!”

 

An office? What was he exactly doing in an office? Daniel is genuinely confused. He’s pretty sure idols like him never work in an office. Maybe, the practice room could be considered an office, but Daniel looks around just to make sure he’s not going crazy. 

 

Above his cubicle lies a plethora of workspaces, modern sculptures and artworks quietly grace the vicinity, and the amount of moss covering the entire granite wall seemed to accentuate its sophistication. This is completely contrasting to the musk-filled practice room that they’ve been using for the whole duration of promotions. 

 

As if he’s still not deterred to make the slightest bit of an understanding to what’s going on, Daniel checks out himself on the small mirror daintily placed at the corner of his beveled glass table.

 

“What the hell.” 

 

Yup, he’s definitely wearing a suit and tie. And, this is definitely an office. 

 

“You’re being weird,” Jisung looks at him being completely perplexed. Daniel doesn’t even notice the sour expression slowly hanging on his face.

 

“Jisung-hyung… uhm,” He’s hesitating to ask, but Daniel knows he’ll regret it if he keeps his mouth shut because what the fuck is happening, honestly. “Where are we?”

 

“Daniel, did you hit your head somewhere? You’re joking, right?” Now, Jisung looks even more creeped out. The way he’s incessantly shuffling the buttons of his shirt is a dead giveaway, the older male does it out of habit when he’s stressed. “I think you should take a rest, you have a big day tomorrow, after all,” Jisung adds, leaving the cubicle as fast as he can without even turning to look at him.

 

What the actual fuck is happening?

 

“Hello, Mr. Kang,” A younger male who resembles much like Daehwi approaches him with a bit of hesitance. So far, Daniel has been surrounded by people that he knows, yet they look at him indifferently when he asks them about what had happened prior to him blacking out. “Sir Jisung had told me to guide you to the infirmary. He says you’re feeling sick.”

 

“Daehwi, right?” Taking a deep breath, Daniel decides to play along in the meantime, hoping to gather his senses. “Yes, I do feel kind of nauseous. Please do take me to the infirmary.”

 

“Certainly, sir,” Daehwi replies with a smile.

 

From what Daniel has observed, the place is somewhat a very posh and large broadcasting station, and it doesn’t fail to surprise him the familiar faces he meets along the way to the infirmary: Jaehwan, he discovers, works in the PR department of the company and Woojin seems to have a knack in editing along with Jihoon. They’re all the typical white-collared workers who seem to have no idea that they were idols before all of this unexplainable mess had occurred.

 

Daniel’s reverie is abruptly stopped when the television plastered on the walls of the office suddenly switch on, showing an insignia that resembled three stars with a phoenix hovering above it. 

 

He looks over to Daehwi and asks, “What’re we doing?”

 

“We need to watch this, Mr. Kang,” the younger says plainly. “The whole country has been waiting for this broadcast all day long.”

 

“Oh, okay,” If he only knew what Daehwi meant, everything would actually make sense. The elder sighs, still bewildered by everything he sees so far. It’s barely an hour, and it feels like he’s been robbed off of everything. The people he once knew were now strangers who look at him as if he’s going bonkers - him being an idol is suddenly a thought that ceased to exist, and Seongwoo, the person dearest to his heart, Daniel still hasn’t seen him in this weird little nightmare he’s in.

 

The monotonous clicking of the keyboard is all Daniel could hear when—

 

“Writers, stop what you’re doing right now and concentrate on the broadcast,” A small man that looked like Sungwoon emerges out of the left-end cubicle, his voice is still loud and commanding as ever. “This is a direct feed from the royal palace, and it will be broadcasted to the public in a few moments. As the country’s flagship media station, we ought to be the first one to make a headline so do your work swiftly, got it?”

 

“Yes,  _ Editor-in-chief Ha _ !” It’s peculiar to see Sungwoon being so worked up when he’s often one of the people who like to pull pranks in the group. From the way how the smaller male carries himself with his suit and tie resplendently, Daniel supposes this person is entirely different from the one he knew before. The more Daniel indulges himself in this vivid dream, the more he realizes every minute detail seems to be so real. It’s horrible, very horrible.

 

The camera carefully pans itself to an elderly couple seated in front of an ornate mahogany table. Daniel thinks it looks beautiful, and the carving etched at the middle of the table resembles the insignia that showed up on screen earlier before the direct feed went live. 

 

_ So they’re the royal family, huh? _ Daniel quietly thinks to himself.

 

“It is with great reluctance and sorrow that I, Hyunjeong VI, declare my abdication to the throne,” the whole crowd of writers gasps in sheer shock, but still their hands swiftly type away the headlines that will soon be posted on the internet for everyone to see. Still, Daniel holds his breath and carefully observes the live feed. “As I am too frail and old, I am no longer confident that I can rule this country and live up to everyone’s expectations. Thus, I had requested the parliament to procure a law for my permanent resignation earlier.” 

 

Suddenly, Daniel feels his head throbbing uncontrollably, throwing him off-balance. Daehwi manages to stabilize him with a swift grasp, linking one arm on his own. “Are you all right, Mr. Kang?”

 

“I don’t know, I just felt an overwhelming pain in my head,” Daniel still has his hands slowly massaging his temples. He feels really dizzy again, but there’s something inside the male that tells him to stay and finish the whole broadcast. 

 

“Should we leave now?” Daehwi asks reluctantly, still carefully tending to the elder male.

 

“No, let us stay for a moment,” the elder male groans slightly yet he still forces himself to tread nearer to the television to take a closer look at the royal family. What on earth is he even doing at this point in time?  “I think we ought to finish this one.”

 

The television once again shows the elderly emperor’s face who is busying himself signing a bunch of papers, “As I have signed the abdication papers, everything is now legally-binding within the kingdom. I may be regretful for this sudden announcement, yet I am confident that the new emperor will usher a new era of change. I declare that the Phoenix Throne be open to the next ruler.” 

 

_ Cue in, the drums. _

 

Daniel feels his stomach churn when the camera’s viewfinder shifts to a young man walking on a long carpeted aisle, heading towards the aging bronze throne which had been Korea’s seat of power for hundreds of years. The man’s face is covered by a satin veil with its ornamented beads deliberately reflecting the spotlights cast upon the whole throne room, he glistens like a heavenly being - a phoenix rising from its ashes and fluttering its golden wings for the entire world to witness. 

 

It is one of those dreadful yet exciting moments that Daniel hasn’t felt ever since he debuted as an idol, and the ridiculous secret to that specific moment wasn’t even the thrill of him winning first place. Daniel’s heart had sprung at the thought that he would debut alongside with his dearest friend, Seongwoo. 

 

Bizarrely enough, there’s something towards this entire ceremony that mimics the whole excitement he had felt prior. The male obtusely gravitates to the mysterious man hiding beneath the blinding cloth at the other side of the screen, and Daniel couldn’t even comprehend the way he’s feeling right now. As if the devastating migraine has entirely dissipated, Daniel reels himself an inch closer to the large television looming above them.

 

Hints of the  _ gayageum  _ and  _ buk  _ are sparsely heard underneath the commentator’s loud voice. Daniel giggles for a bit at the sudden thought of Seongwoo trying to imitate the screechy sound of the  _ haegeum  _ when they were filming for an idol show, it was an obnoxious talent that he was severely proud of and it never failed to coax out a giggle from the younger lad whenever the older male does it. He just misses Seongwoo so bad, it has been barely hours since he was in this mess, but it seemed like an eternity. 

 

“Fellow citizens of the Kingdom of Korea,” the prime minister’s voice reverberates in the entire hall, a majority of the members of the parliament were there to witness the crowning of the new emperor and the start of a new era. “With the grace of God and the power vested in me through the constitution, I hereby declare the crowning of the new emperor, valid and legally binding. You may now open the veil,  _ Your Highness. _ ”

 

The man slowly undrapes himself of the blinding veil, his sharp features and constellation of moles adorning his left cheek are shown to the whole country, and the world for the first time— except for Daniel. The younger male freezes in position, his mouth gaping at the whole ordeal presented to him on the screen. 

 

He hadn’t seen Seongwoo in the office because he did not belong there in the first place. He was on the other side of the spectrum and daring to tread such dangerous waters were never Daniel’s forte, to begin with. He mentally wishes all of this nightmare to end, although it becomes more vivid whenever he prays for salvation. 

 

Daniel closes his eyes.  _ Please, just make it stop. _

 

“I, the new Emperor of Korea and the ruler of the heavenly throne of the Phoenix,” Seongwoo does his oath with an accented voice that reminds Daniel that he is a different person from the dear friend he once knew. Daniel’s eyes are desperately trying to find the warmth and familiarity behind his calm visage, but they aren’t there anymore. “I pledge my eternal loyalty to the motherland and serve my people, I am the Emperor, I am—” 

 

“—Seongwoo.”

 

_ “Seongwoo.”  _

 

“You know the Emperor, Mr. Kang?” Daehwi eyebrows seem to have risen as he hears Daniel enunciating his name in unison with the royal on public television. 

 

“For a very long time, yes,” Technically, he wasn’t lying when he replied to Daehwi. Seongwoo and him were best friends, after all, not just in this fucked up world rather. 

 

“Well, that’s great!” Daehwi beams, his smile is vast. “I presume you already know that you’re scheduled to interview him the day after his coronation, right?”

 

“Huh?” Daniel has no idea of what he’s going to do but whatever it takes to reach Seongwoo, he’ll gladly do it. “Is that so?”

 

“Yes, yes! The higher-ups have been planning in secrecy along with the royal family for quite a long while now,” Daehwi says it nonchalantly. “The abdication wasn’t really a  _ surprise _ .”

 

“I must’ve forgotten,” the elder male smiles at him, trying to coax a small laugh to keep the atmosphere casual. “But, I’ll do it.”  _ I will whatever it takes to meet Seongwoo. _

 

“Good,” the young man begins to walk again, leading him somewhere. “I think we should go to the infirmary, now?”

 

“Yes,” Daniel also begins to walk, though the headache is no longer persisting. “I think so too.”

 

He might just have to play along for a long while.

**Author's Note:**

> i know this was a mess (well, the whole point of the fic was to confuse everyone anyways) but comments are greatly appreciated. <3
> 
> leave some asks @ [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/starpeaches)  
> say hi to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/byulpeaches)


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